


Rank and File

by Happylittleaddict



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: THIS WAS A LOT OF WORK, War, bitters pov, he just wants to rest, i have no idea how to tag this, mentions of various characters - Freeform, summary of 12-13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 08:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16013882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happylittleaddict/pseuds/Happylittleaddict
Summary: They didn’t seem to care that all they were doing was creating cannon fodder.





	Rank and File

Bitters sighed as he was brought back for his physical, he would pass he already knew that. They were desperate anyways, most everyone passed they didn’t really care what issues you had so long as you could move and hold a gun. They didn’t seem to care that all they were creating by doing that was cannon fodder.

He went through the motions of the tests, doing just enough to pass, not that that really required much. Average, just another part of the rank and file. It was all a joke, but he would fight because he still cared about his people. At least if he did that he would die for his beliefs, and possibly keep those he called friends safe. That's what he told himself anyways, in reality he was just another soldier, forced to fight a battle that had not started as his own but one he had inherited.

He went through the motions for years, surviving, seeing friends and acquaintances fall. He watched as they continued drafting until no one was left, the only people left were soldiers now, most of whom hardly remembered a time before the fighting.

Bitters had long since lost faith in leaders, lost faith in surviving, it was delusional to think otherwise, many of the others were. There was still a tiny spark of hope though and the Reds and Blues had fanned that spark a little, there was a chance this would all end for the better. But then they go to rescue their friends, alone, leaving their teams behind, he doubted they would return. This wasn’t their fight, they had no reason to help them. Not long after Felix returned and reported they had died, they had reached their friends but had died in the subsequent fight. He was surprised to find himself so upset by that, then again he had allowed himself to get his hopes up. They were probably all going to die now, he still went to training, what was the point? Maybe the faith their captains had put in them was the point.

Average, thats all any of them were, yet they were now storming Armonia, making one more push to maybe end this war. He did not have high hopes for success. He didn’t think any of them were making it out of that city alive. “We’ve been playing these guys for years!” That was Felix’s voice over an intercom, they had trusted him, as the audio continued however it was made clear that they had been manipulated, kept at war for most of these soldiers lives, all to wipe out the colony for some corporation to come in and take over for the alien tech on the planet. They weren’t out of the woods yet though, even if this united both sides they now had a new adversary. 

Washington was much harder on them, that annoyed Bitters a bit but he understood why, if they were going to stand a chance against the mercenaries and their men they needed to be better fighters. Still with every battle they lost more and more people. While that did mean looser rationing restrictions, it still meant that their defense was weakening. On top of all that neither side could stand working with each other. They still saw each other as enemies, Feds were fucking assholes anyways, not like he really wanted to talk to them. 

Were those merc assholes ever going to let up on them? Was the tech left here by aliens really that fucking important? This was their home the only place he had ever known and they were all likely going to die fighting for it. This wasn’t a life he ever expected to live growing up, at least not when he was younger. Then he got older, then the war started, and now, now he was stuck fighting a new conflict, one with very low odds. All he wanted was for this to be over so he could just, stop. Stop the fighting and live at his own pace not anyone elses. That meant winning though, did they really stand a chance? 

Another battle in Armonia, they would all need to evacuate fast, before the pirates and mercs knew what was going on. If it went right none of the enemies would survive, at least not enough to be much of a problem. The plan needed to work they were grasping at straws now trying to come up with ways to defeat them. He was not surprised when things didn’t go right, he wasn’t surprised at Kimball's speech, though it was a bit eye opening what she was saying. They had to work together or risk further failure, the next battle would be the last, at least hopefully. For better or for worse they would fight.

The fight was hard, they lost a lot of people, but they succeeded in getting the message out, only it got broadcast to everyone including their enemies employer. That had turned out badly, they had gotten pinned down within the base and their likelihood of survival was not looking good. They could hope though, he could hope. He just wished he knew if that was safe to think, he wanted things to go right though, he wanted to survive, for his friends to survive, along with the men who made all of this possible. The ones who stayed and helped even though it was not their fight.

It was over, it was finally all over, the war was over, both of them. Now it was time to rebuild, once that was done he could maybe finally rest, they all could. He leaned against a back wall watching the people of chorus celebrate the win, shifting his weight he lit a cigarette taking a long drag and exhaling slowly. They were finally done. He finally didn’t have to live at everyone else's pace, he didn’t have to worry about his friends dying every time they left. He watched the smoke rise watching how it curled and smiled slightly, it was the first time in awhile he had had a moment to sit and just watch something, allowed to take his time for once. He appreciated it more than anyone would likely think. He was after all the one who was supposed to not care. 

He couldn’t believe he got roped into shit again, he and the other lieutenants got roped into being the local police force. Not that they had any business being in that profession they had no formal training for it. Then again not much exciting happened, maybe this was a good way to take it easy for awhile, maybe he would find a way to dip out if things started to rough around the city. Nah he would stick around, someone had to keep the others at least somewhat in line and focused. He would get to rest later.


End file.
